Tuesday 14 August 2018.Pub
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PITTWATER HIGH SCHOOL BE RESPECTFUL ASPIRE BE RESPONSIBLE 14 August 2018 Proud to be Public: Celebrating Education Week at Pittwater High Jane Ferris: Principal’s Report Education Week has been a wonderful Max and Jorja were inspiring speakers, opportunity to celebrate the achieve- outlining the vision of the House Captains ments of our public schools. At Pittwater and SRC for the next 12 months. High School we have a learning environ- Congratulations also go to our symphonic ment that is collaborative, creative, band and choir for their outstanding challenging and full of opportunity. This performances. kind of environment doesn’t happen by chance. It is the product of highly skilled Another highlight of Education Week was teachers engaged in an extremely the induction of our school captains, vice- complex profession. The theme of captains, senior prefects and prefect Education Week 2018 has been “Today’s body. The outgoing senior leadership schools creating tomorrow’s world”. This team were rightly acknowledged for their reflects the broader role public schools amazing contribution to the school in the play in fostering an applied learning past year. They will be a tough act to environment where students are encour- follow, but I know under the captaincy of aged to become lifelong learners and Jessica Deathridge, Joachim Koekemoer, develop the capabilities required to Claire Thompson and Zane Ramey we are embrace the challenges of 21st century in for another great year. life. Our school is equipping young people with the skills and capabilities they need to thrive in a rapidly changing, globalised world. We took the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our students, with Commendation Assemblies for year groups 7 to 11. They are to be congratu- lated in that they have strived and aspired to be positive learners. The awards also represented many of the extra-curricular activities that our students have been involved with such as dance, Finally I would like to acknowledge the Art Club, de Vinci Decathlon, Quicksmart collective energy, respectfulness, en- and Mock Trial. It was greatly appreciat- gaged learning and school spirit of ALL our ed that so many parents and grand- students. Each and every one of you has parents could share in these assemblies. something positive to contribute to our In the Year 9 to 11 assembly, we also school community. Always believe in made time to induct the 10 new House yourself and have the confidence to have Captains who will be leading the Student a go – you may be surprised at just what Representative Council. you can achieve! Principal: Jane Ferris Website: www.pittwater-h.schools.nsw.edu Deputy Principals: Rachel Fleming, Sharon Behringer , Martin Hardy (rel) Email: [email protected] Rachel Fleming, Sharon Behringer and Martin Hardy (relieving) What a terrific week we had at Pittwater High, Year 12 with students initiating the drought relief fund- We are very pleased with the commitment and raiser. Special mention goes to Cooper Keavy resilience of Year 12 after receiving their Trial for driving this initiative with the SRC and HSC results. inspiring the school with a passionate, We are looking forward to a productive term eloquent speech. and the opportunity to further develop skills. It is imperative that Year 12 attend every lesson Well done also to our Year 12 Drama students as courses are still being completed. and Mr Gleeson for their wonderful perfor- mances last Thursday evening. References - All Year 12 students can apply for a reference from the school and their Congratulations to our year groups for their application is due to Mrs Roulston by Friday 17 participation in the Prefect Induction, grade August. Students and parents were emailed a sport and Commendation assemblies. copy of the application last week. Sign out procedures and students going to sick Reports will be available on the portal on bay. Tuesday 21 August. Sick leave It is important students who are needing to go Outside school supervision home early follow the correct procedures. There are a number of unsupervised parties If students are sick at any time they must get a and gatherings occurring on the Northern note from their classroom teacher who will Beaches. Police have requested that parents/ direct them to sick bay. Students must not guardians ensure they know the whereabouts contact their parents directly (as this is creat- of their children at all times and children are ing more work for our administration staff). under supervision. Contact must be made by administration staff. Buses Students going on extended leave must give For student safety there are now seats availa- formal notification to the administration office ble for students to sit inside the school and complete the required paperwork. The grounds. At no time should students be leave will be unjustified if this procedure is not waiting on the footpath but rather remain followed. seated until the bus stops. Appointments and early leavers All students must tap their Opal card on the Students must supply a note before 9am if bus. This then sends data to the authorities they wish to leave early. It problematic when Indicating how many students are using our parents email or call in the middle of the day buses. Consequences of not tapping may unless it is an emergency. mean cancellation of buses in the future. Wet weather sport Students will only be released on wet weather School App sport days if they have brought a note at the A reminder that the school app is a great way beginning of the day – 9am. Any deviation to be communicating. If yours is currently not from this will require a parent/guardian to working then please delete it and reinstall. We present to the student services to collect their will be encouraging staff to utilise this more child. across the school. Archaeological Dig – Year 10 Elective History and Year 11 Ancient History On Friday 27 July Year 10 Elective History and Year 11 Ancient History went to Macquarie University and conducted an archaeological dig. They spent the morning excavating real artefacts buried on site at Macquarie University. Throughout the day they excavated a grid pit, sifted for finer artefacts, catalogue and carefully recorded their findings to discover information about the occupants of the site. In the afternoon the students spent time analysing the artefacts found, which included human skeletal remains, seeds, pottery and horse shoes to make calculated inferences determining the function and occupants of the site. The students thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to have a hands-on experience of being an archaeologist and debating their findings. Ms Peruzzi and Mrs Mumford On Monday May 14, Year 8 Geography classes attended an excursion to North Head to learn about the interconnections made in the area from the Indigenous Australians through to today. Students explored the natural environment of the area, learnt about endangered species such as the Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub and the long-nosed bandicoot and built bandicoot nests to protect the species. The guides from EcoXplore informed the students of how the Indigeneous Australians interconnected with the area from using paperbark from the paperbark tree to make talcum powder, through to the significance of the site for ceremonial purposes. Students learnt about other interconnections with the area over time. From the Quarantine Station Cemetery, the Australian military during World War 2 through to the management of the area by the Sydney Harbour Trust Fund today. Students were then asked to discuss both the positive and negative impacts of these interconnections on the physical environment of North Head. Mrs Alison Mumford HSIE Department Year 9 History watched a Special Presentation on World War 1 and the Battle of Beersheba. On Friday June 22, Year 9 History were involved in a presentation on the Battle of Beersheba and the role of the Light Horse brigade in the battle. Students were informed of this historical event in Australian history by special guest presenter Mr Peter Phelps. Peter engaged the audience by recounting factual information, informing the students of the role of the Light Horse Brigade in the battle as well as the historical accuracy of the movie “The Lighthorsemen”. As Peter was a leading actor in the movie The Light- Horsemen students were able to see the uniforms worn by soldiers from the time as well as view the battle scenes from the movie. Following the presentation there was a Q and A session where students asked many questions such as: ‘Were any horses injured in the film?’ ‘How did the writers research the Battle of Beersheba to make the movie historically accurate?’ ‘Do you keep in contact with any of the other actors involved in the film?’ Many thanks to Mr Peter Phelps for giving up his time to come and speak to Year 9 History. Mrs Alison Mumford HSIE Department Self-Interest Projects in 7E History At the end of Term 2 in History, 7E worked on a self-interest History project in which they researched the history of a topic and developed a resource to share with the class. Although we had just finished studying Ancient Civilisations, students were allowed to explore the historical nature of anything that interested them, which made for wonderful variety in the final products. For example, we were audience to a presentation on Ancient Japan by Tia, Ruby and Emma, who also taught us how to make an origami crane. We still have board games to trial made respectively by Amber, and Jorja and Bri, which concluded their presenta- tions on the Kingdom of Kush, and the Quarantine Station. We even learnt about the history of the FIFA World Cup with Harley, Jack, Bastie and Jarvis, including Bastie’s predictive call that France would win in 2018.